Last Resort
by Hartbrake
Summary: I wrote this because werewolves of the NW are underrated. Jaclyn is a telekenitic shapeshifter who is a last resort to Delos, a Wild Power, with Vince, a werewolf. Will passion get in the way of duty? R&R please!


_Hey! This is my fanfic about the Night World. It has some main characters, like Ash Redfern and Thea Harman (Go witches! Mwahahaha!) but it also has new characters. Oh, and did I get that goddess' name right? Please tell me in a review, so that I can fix it! Thank you. I've always liked the Night World books, Black Dawn's stroy specifically. I'll get into that story later. Anyway, I felt inspired to write about the Night World. Hope you like it! =)_

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Ash Redfern was staring at Vince Sostantivo critically, wondering how a _werewolf _had gotten Thierry to agree to this. Vince had an uncanny way of getting what he wanted. Maybe it was those Italian genes in him. "How are we going to do this, Vince? She's supposed to be one of the best shapeshifters in the Night World. Not to mention that added brain gift of telekinesis." Ash wasn't pleased to say Vince also had the witch, Thea Harman, and Lupe. A whole _team_.

Ash didn't know how he had been able to do this. Vince stared at him impatiently, as if the answer were obvious.

"Ash, do you know what we could _do_ if we got the girl on our side?" Vince asked lazily, twirling the foxglove ring on his middle finger. Ash narrowed his eyes at him. He _really_ didn't like this werewolf.

Thea said in that wise, careful way of hers, "Let's just get on with it, shall we?" And she started forward with Lupe right behind her, leaving the guys somewhat in disbelief. The two glared at each other again, and hurried to catch up with the girls.

They reached a house in no time. Lupe wasn't quite sure that it was the right one until she saw a girl standing in a window, washing the dishes and appearing to be singing. Lupe looked at Vince to see a small, slow smile spreading on his face. "This is it," he announced loudly.

_Oh, please,_ Lupe thought. _We really don't need another Ash_. She directed that thought at the vampire himself, and couldn't help smiling with amusement as he pretended to look hurt.

"You wound me, Lu. You really do," Ash said in mock sorrow. Lupe was in his face in an instant, her lips pulled away in a threatening gesture.

"If you call me Lu again, Redfern, I will _personally_ make sure you don't get to see the light of day when I change," Lupe said threateningly. Thea pulled Lupe away from Ash as he started laughing like a maniac. Vince was already on the porch when Lupe, Ash and Thea got there.

He rang the doorbell.

Vince's ears could pick up the girl – he thought Thierry had called her Jaclyn Löwin – distantly saying, "Coming." A few minutes later the door opened, and a girl about the same age as Thea came out.

It took her three seconds to understand. First, she looked out in surprise at the visitors, which took her a second, and then her eyes drifted down to Ash's T-Shirt, Thea's necklace, and Vince and Lupe's rings, which took her two seconds. Then she slammed the door.

Vince instinctively jammed his foot in the doorway. He gritted his teeth in pain as the door smashed his foot, but he put his hand to open it –

And found him eye-to-eye with a gun's barrel. Ash swore as Lupe pushed him out of the way, running into the household. Another gun appeared, floating in midair like the first.

"These revolvers are specially crafted to change ammo at any minute," Jaclyn's voice said shakily. Vince could smell her, hear her heartbeat, but didn't know where she might be. Werewolves were amazing that way. "All I have to do is change gears, and they will automatically get iron bullets, silver bullets, or wooden bullets. They all will go straight to your heart."

She appeared, finally, clutching one of her guns as if the world depended on it. Ash stepped forward. "Now, wait a minute –"

A gun shifted gears and was pointed at his chest immediately. "We mean you no harm, Jaclyn. We are from Circle Daybreak." Vince rolled his eyes.

Jaclyn didn't look impressed. "I don't believe you. The Council's been after me ever since Grandma Harman found me as a kid and discovered my abilities. I can't trust anybody, you see." Her eyes shifted from Vince to Ash to Lupe to Thea, over and over again. "Not even the third Circle."

Thea shook her head, trying to move around Ash. The second gun shifted gears and pointed at Thea's head. Jaclyn kept her eyes and the hand-held gun pointed on Vince, her finger on the trigger trembling.

Thea put her hands up. "Wait, wait, and wait. We aren't here to kill you." She stared steadily into the girl's eyes. Jaclyn looked at her. Thea clearly saw pure fear in deep blue eyes that were almost like a lioness'. Thea sent her prayers up to Eilyithia to help her calm this shapeshifter.

"Please, let us take you to safety. You won't be hunted by the Council anymore." Thea gave a small, soft smile, hoping to reassure her. "We're all outlaws anyway. On the Night World's hit list." Jaclyn's eyes didn't believe her, but her face didn't move an inch. Slowly, almost painfully, she lowered the gun she held in her hand. The others wavered, but kept. Thea was immensely grateful to the goddess of animals of Crete as the shapeshifter spoke.

"You have a Redfern with you. _Ash Redfern_, specifically. I don't like him." Her eyes trained on his face. "If he's with you, I won't go." She raised the gun again. "I don't trust the Redfern family, might I add."

Thea's heart sank. Ash laughed out loud. Jaclyn's face briefly turned puzzled, but then sunk back into that impassive field of neutrality. "You don't get it, do you?" Ash asked kindly. "We're outlaws. I have a human soulmate. My own family is out to get me."

Jaclyn sighed, looking out the window. She sucked in a breath quickly, seeing something Thea couldn't see. She didn't have super sight. All she wanted to do was get back to Eric.

"Fine. I'll go." The guns dropped from Ash and Thea, shifting to safety mode before tucking themselves in the belt holsters on Jaclyn's hips. Jaclyn bent over and tucked the third firearm into the holster on her calf.

This girl liked safety, didn't she? A suitcase bobbed down the stairs, already packed and about as big as leather pouches. Jaclyn grabbed it and walked out the door, whistling some gory tune under her breath.

Lupe laughed as they followed. Jaclyn's house really hadn't been that far away – only six miles or so; give or take a foot – from the Circle's base in Las Vegas. "That was unexpected, wasn't it?" Lupe asked, socking Vince in the shoulder. Ash shook his head as Thea rushed to catch up with Jaclyn's long strides. She seemed to know where she was going, Thea noticed. Jaclyn sighed.

"We're walking?"

"Yeah."

"Did you happen to notice we're being followed?" Jaclyn asked her critically, looking her in the eye. Thea now noticed that she had been unbuckling the leather strap that held her gun on her leg. She turned around, panic slowly creeping in. Lupe and Vince were walking slowly, seemingly doing nothing but walking. But Thea knew well enough that they were smelling the air, for any unfamiliar scents. Ash had stopped completely, listening intently and looking around.

Jaclyn walked on, two guns in her hand now. She faced Thea, who was now rushing to catch up to her, and handed her a gun barrel-first. "You'll need it for defense," Jaclyn said wisely. Thea turned to see Vince hurrying up to the girls, Lupe and Ash right behind them.

"We're being followed. Can't tell by whom, though. Ash, can you hear anything?" Ash shook his head, sending his message telepathically to everyone. _No. I think it's the Council, or a dragon. You know how Keller fought one back in Harmony._

Vince nodded his agreement. Thea was still staring at the gun, trying to figure out how to shift its gears if the time came. Jaclyn stopped. "It's no use. We'll just lead them to the base. We have to fight them here." Slowly, Thea, Vince, Ash and Lupe turned to see a vampire dart into the shadows.

"They have a shapeshifter with them," Lupe said quietly. "A vampire. And . . . and . . . it smells like a shapeshifter, but I don't know." Lupe looked at Vince for reassurance. "It's like a vampire and shapeshifter and witch combined. Right?" Vince nodded quietly, taking off his shirt. He was already changing into a wolf.

Jaclyn sounded horrified. "Don't do that! They'll attack while you're changing." Vince looked at her and sighed. It was too late. Lupe tried to hide a smile as Vince shook his head, talking to Jaclyn in a thick voice.

Lupe walked over to her. "Could I have a gun? I'm not going to change anytime soon." Jaclyn nodded, handing her the one on her left silently.

"Keep track of the clicks. There's a little gauge that has the numbers on it, but it usually gets it wrong." Thea nodded, with a little 'aha!' under her breath, finally finding the lever.

She didn't know which numbers stood for, though. Jaclyn seemed to read her thoughts as she added, "Iron's 1, wood is 2 and silver's 3. Get that right." Thea lifted the gun with shaky hands. She'd never held a firearm, not a loaded one, certainly. Thea was more used to magic than hand-to-hand combat.

People were screaming now as they caught sight of Vince. He was a sleek, coppery-white wolf that had his intense and deep brown eyes. Ash shook his head in the graceful way of a lazy cat, stretching and taking the pose of someone ready for a good fight. Thea was sending prayers up to Hecate, the mother of all witches, and Jaclyn was biting her skin.

Well, you couldn't really disagree with that. Shapeshifters needed flesh sometimes, to make them stronger. Like vampires. It was then that Thea realized all of Jaclyn's fingers were bitten down to where she could probably feel the bone through the thin layer of skin. Grinning almost smugly, the vampire with dark mussed brown hair and almost purple eyes strode forward, the others on his trail. He held out a hand. "Give us the girl, and you will not die."

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The end! Hehe! Please tell me what you think by reviewing please! Reviews . . . I like those.

**Since the beginning of time * Hartbrake**


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